i want to one day be able to hold some conversation in either japanese or korean, enough to travel there for fun / work / studying. i love both korean and japanese culture but i really enjoy the countryside and places with a lot of nature / historical sites - from what i’ve seen, it feels like japan has more options for this, but i could be wrong. its also a bigger country so more to see. on the other hand, i won’t have much time to commit to learning a language so i might be more inclined to study korean as it takes a bit less time to learn, and i would still love to visit the country.

how do i figure out which language i should learn?? any help appreciated :)

I believe they mean the same thing but the nuance is different. Is it just a matter of level of interest of the speaker? Can someone explain what the って is actually doing?

I am in the process of learning Japanese (Duolingo, hiragana flash cards, etc), and want to start adding some immersion.

I have tried playing video games or watching shows with subtitles, but I end up just reading the English. I would watch/play without them, but they speak too fast for me to understand what they’re saying yet.

My husband is fluent in German and tries to brush up by listening to kids news podcasts. Is there anything similar that I should check out?

In response to user feedback, this is a recurring thread for general discussion about learning Japanese, and for asking your questions about grammar, learning resources, and so on. Let's come together and share our successes, what we've been reading or watching and chat about the ups and downs of Japanese learning.

The /r/Japanese rules (see here) still apply! Translation requests still belong in /r/translator and we ask that you be helpful and considerate of both your own level and the level of the person you're responding to. If you have a question, please check the subreddit's frequently asked questions, but we won't be as strict as usual on the rules here as we are for standalone threads.

I've been reading yotsubato for a bit now on volume 8, other than some vocab generally im able to make out most words. What would be the next step up? im thinking しかのこのこ as i've already read some and its okay... im not left totally clueless as long as i have yomitan, but is there anything that slots nicely in between thoes levels?

Hello everyone! I’m an game developer.

I've loved Japanese culture since I was a child,

and now I’m creating a Steam game, AirBoost: Airship Knight, in a Japanese anime style.

The game is almost finished,

and I’d really love to introduce it to Japanese players.

However, I currently don’t have a proper platform to do so.

I’m preparing Japanese content to better integrate into the Japanese gaming community.

I’ve tried one or two platforms before, but some have IP restrictions,

making it difficult to reach Japanese audiences.

Where do you usually discuss games and ACG?

If you know any good forums or communities, please let me know!

Thank you all.

For a bit of context, I spent a huge chunk of my childhood in Japan, and back then I know I had a native Japanese accent (confirmed by those who used to be around me)

After leaving Japan and fast forward 15 years, I've barely had to speak Japanese. The other day I met some Japanese people and when speaking Japanese to them, I noticed that my accent wasn't quite what it was used to be. Like, parts of it I sounded native but I could tell that there were some words or parts where I sounded really off

Is there a way to gain accent back? For those of you who speak like natives, what resources did you use and what do you recommend I should do to get my fluency back

I’m in JPN 102 right now, and I just feel like everyone is above whatever we are learning at all times. It’s almost like they’ve studied Japanese before taking the actual class and it’s making me feel so insecure and behind during class. I don’t want to drop the class over anxiety and feeling nervous but I feel like I’m heading there.

How do you stop comparing yourself and just focus on what you’re doing? I don’t want to quit.

weird question but i want to find as old a source as possible on the philosophy behind this art, and any alternate interpretations. I hear it brought up all the time and would like to know how much is actually an accurate reflection of the style and its intentions.

thanks

I've always been curious about how much of what we see in anime actually represents real life in Japan. Obviously, a lot of it is exaggerated—especially in fantasy and sci-fi series—but what about the more grounded, slice-of-life stuff?

For example, are Japanese high schools really as strict (or sometimes as relaxed) as they seem in anime? Do people actually say "itadakimasu" before meals all the time? And what about the whole "senpai/kouhai" dynamic—does it play as big a role in daily interactions as it does in anime?

If anyone has experience living in Japan or knows about the culture beyond anime, I'd love to hear your thoughts! How much of what we see in anime is accurate, and what’s completely fictionalized?

Does Japanese people view people are different, or who have different than someone’s opinion, a disrespectful thing ?

Is honesty not as important value in Japanese culture as being normal?

How does Japanese and western culture view on honesty ,speaking feelings and different opinions to strangers and friends ?

Do western people tend to take their own lead to start to do things they want more easily than Japanese people

it seems likeJapanese people a bit more passive and ignore their own feelings ,even they want to start things because they assume others don’t want ?

Americans can start a long conversation to stranger and talk about personal stuff easily.

Japanese people tend to be careful to start conversations to strangers ? even among their friends ?

Do they don’t want to have different opinions with people that’s why they don’t start conversations often ?

Do western people trust strangers and new friends faster than Japanese? Why?

Is there any education difference between two cultures?

For example , Western culture praise their children more , encourage them to be themselves . Having a different opinion aren’t shamed .

Does Japanese discourage undesirable actions like need to be normal like everyone else using shame ?

Hi everyone! I’m new to Japanese culture and films, though I’ve been a long-time fan of Japanese manga and anime. Recently, I’ve been diving into Japanese horror movies, especially from the late 90s to mid-2000s, and I’ve noticed some interesting cultural details that I’d love to understand better.

So far, I’ve watched the Ringu series, Howling Village, Pulse (2001), and Cure (1997). While I loved the storytelling and atmosphere, I couldn’t help but notice something about the funeral scenes in Ringu 1 and Howling Village.

In Ringu 1, when the high school student dies, her classmates attend her funeral wearing their school uniforms, while the adults wear black dresses (women) and black suits (men). Similarly, in Howling Village, during the funeral of the lead actress’s brother’s girlfriend, the adults wear black attire, but the kids are dressed in black suits (boys) and black gowns (girls) instead of school uniforms.

I’m curious about a few things:

1. Why do the kids wear school uniforms in Ringu 1 but not in Howling Village? Is this a cultural shift from the late 90s to 2022?
2. Do these movies accurately represent Japanese funeral customs, or are they stylized for storytelling?
3. What’s the significance of the bracelet-like objects held by the attendees in Howling Village?

As someone who lives overseas and isn’t familiar with Japanese culture, I’m just trying to learn more and understand these details. If I’ve accidentally offended anyone by asking these questions, I sincerely apologize—that wasn’t my intention. I’m just a curious cat trying to learn!

If anyone has more recommendations for Japanese horror films (or insights into these cultural nuances), please share them below. Thanks in advance!

P.S. If this isn’t the right place to ask, feel free to point me in the right direction. :)

So, I’m trying to justify my poor choice of Master’s by getting better at my Japanese and even making a career out of it. Problem is; an unstable life makes things much harder for that. Just got my JLPT N2 results back, and I bombed. I’ll probably just have to try again this year but something else could also be used to bulk up my skills. In some interviews with Big Japanese Game Developer (TM), it seems they use some kind of internal software to quick translate internal messages, documents, etc. and then have their guys mostly proofread them. Does anybody know of any sort of database software used for translation that essentially contains an internal dictionary they can use (ie. contains industry specific jargon and terms) and if so, what would be the best (preferably free) way to go about learning them? Also, any advice for trying to study and improve when life has very limited stability would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. 🙏

So, in busuu I only have a few chapters left till I completely finish the course, even tho im happy I’m also a bit worried since I need an app like busuu since busuu really improved my Japanese skills and I really hope that there’s an alternative after I’m done with it. (The last chapter teaches Upper intermediate B2, so I need something that teaches around that/above B2)

Is it okay, if I call 律(りつ) a person who's nаme is 璃月 (りつき)? or are these a whole different nаmes?

Its pretty much reversed where i know the Hiragana letter and have to select the corresponding Romaiji related to it.

Hey guys I'm preparing for the MEXT exam and plan to appear for it this year. I'll be giving the test for Natural Science A. I've completed the highschool science course (physics, chemistry and maths) already but I'm finding some difficult in the pyqs (mainly the topics to study). I've come to know that the topics are generally coincident with that of the japanese high school text books. It'd be really really helpful if someone could send me the list of topics and subtopics present in the japanese highschool textbooks. Thank you in advance for your help.

Can't find any, the genre doesn't matter, need a bit of info for my thesis

While we're all waiting for the test results, I wanted to broach another subject.

So I've been living in Japan for over 10 years now. My last working visa was for 3 years and I just submitted my application at Immigration to renew it. However, this time around I'm a bit worried that I might actually be rejected. I have some unpaid residence taxes, got written up by the police once for causing a ruckus in the street when I was drunk (they let me go), and I don't know exactly have the most stable job (I work in a convenience store).

Wanted to ask if anyone had any similar experiences or situations when they were applying for visa renewal, and what possible steps I could take, if any, to improve my chances? I really don't want to get sent home. I built a life here, and while it's not anything glamorous, I am happy here and want to continue living here. I'm just worried sick that it could all be taken away due to a few silly mistakes.

Any advice or words of encouragement would be much appreciated!

I love recreating food from anime and making my own soba bowls. Love anything that has fish, rice, egg, and vegetables. I also have a large accumulation of soy sauces (some I think are not Japanese) (sweet, tamari, light, dark)

Most of the japanese food I cook is heavily time consuming making stocks from scratch ect

I want to know some under and hour japanese recipes. Or pushed in another direction to try.

Tldr: Sometimes a phrase is understood a lot of different ways, do you just use context clues to know what they are saying?

I am almost through my first audiobook on learning Japanese and looking forward to starting my second. I guess I would say I'm in that stage where I'm starting to notice certain things and my ear is becoming more accustomed to the language. I decided to learn the language when I was invited to a wedding in Japan, I really want to try to be respectful while I'm there. I have been watching shows and playing all my games in Japanese to try to continue hearing the language.

While watching spy family and solo leveling I noticed they said "Dozo" but it had different translations. On Solo Leveling a coworker brings another person a drink and says it with the subtitles saying "Here you go" but I saw another instance of it being used and it had "go ahead". I used the Google translate and it said it means "please.

I apologize for not knowing the writing of the word but I have only been learning through audiobooks and podcasts as I work.

Is denka like other honorifics like san or sama where you would use the name then affix it? For example if there was a Princess Manako, "Manako-denka"? Or would that be incorrect?

"Greetings, Manako-denka." Is that right or totally weird/wrong?

Thank you!

Hello,

Some Japanese websites require a +81 phone number to buy tickets or make a reservation. My hotel gave me their number to use, but the websites require SMS verification.

I already bought Ubigi e-Sim, but it will not be activated until I land in Japan.

The reservation opens a month in advanced. Do you guys have any suggestions what to do to get a working number prior to landing?

If possible, would anybody be able to let me use their Japanese number for SMS verification? I'd appreciate that a lot! 🤗

I've got very little knowledge about the Japanese language so apologies in advance.

I'm playing the Yakuza videogames and when discussing the yakuza, characters say gokudo, (which I understand as a sort of euphemism meaning 'evil'), instead of actually saying 'yakuza', as is written in the subtitles.

Why is this? What different connotations does each word have? Is there perhaps a taboo surrounding these words?

Thanks in advance.

I'm listening to Confessions by Kanae Minato and it has several POVs. One of them is from a teen girl called Mizuki. She details how the kids used to tease her and call her Mizuho (or Mizuhoh? I'm listening to it so not sure how they're spelling it, it's a long o sound with an emphasis on the ho). Can someone explain what about the nickname is funny? Is there a play on words happening in Japanese or just kids thinking it's funny to call her the wrong name?

Is it that people use kudasai for demands, and then onegaishimasu for favors? I noticed instructions also are said with kudasai and not onegaishimasu.

If there is no difference between request and demand, why not just always use onegaishimasu?

Are there any letters/ characters in Japanese that are typically written not how they are typed? For example in English most people would write 'a' like 'α'

Thanks

Hello everyone, I am trying to do a presentation about Utagawa Kuniyoshi and his series "猫の當字". Specifically I want to understand why in his picture "なまず" the "ず" seems to be written totally different, or I just simply can't figure out why the cats are arranged in that way. Please help me understand! Thank you so much in advance. Sadly I can't seem to post a picture here of the artwork.. I will try to post it in the comments.

I have the number of words with similar meaning:
体面, 栄光, 名声 and 名誉
Сould you please write down all the words you associate or can connect with each on of this four words in Japanese. Everything that comes to mind first. More - better.
Thank you

I am starting first time since maybe two years in online group classes again, as I used Italki for private lessons the last two years. In the group class I will have a teacher I never had before from that school so don’t know her teaching style (I used to take many courses at that school and knew most teachers and their style), also not received any homework yet. I just got the Quartet textbook and workbook which is supposed to be our course book, I know that in the coming 10 weeks we will be going through chapter 1 and 2 of Textbook 1.

I wonder if anyone has used Quartet in group lesson context, and if yes, aside of following homework, how did you use the book to prepare for each class and after class? Any lessons learned?

I never used quartet before, only Tobira and that only with self-study.